fy i 


tA 
me 
By 


American Tithers 


By 
JAMES L. SAYLER 


Member of the Chicago Bar 


THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN 
NEW YORK CINCINNATI 


Copyright, 1918, by 
JAMES L. SAYLER 


First Edition Printed August, 1918 
Reprinted January, 1919 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTORY 
Paap 
Statement of William Arthur, London Minister........ 5 
William Gladstone’s advice to his son...............6. 6 


John D. Rockefeller in his ‘‘Random Reminiscences”... 7 


CHAPTER I—BANKERS AND THEIR TESTIMONY 


John Stewart Kennedy, of New York City............ 9 
An International Banker—Jacob H. Schiff............ 12 
Chester Ward Kingsley, of Boston...............-..-. 15 
Vice-President of a New York bank.................. 16 
Jay Cooke—Financier of the Civil War............... 17 


CHAPTER II—THE WORD OF MANUFACTURERS 


Founder of Baldwin Locomotive Works............... 18 
William Colgate, founder of Colgate and Company..... 19 
John H. Converse of Philadelphia.................... 20 
Samuel Pollock Harbison, of Pittsburgh............... 21 
JONNEDOGds, Of DATCON ODIO Jurgens ae conn fie ere cl ee eee 23 
POEINAS IS AG OL CHICAIOUr sus Stee ees buh eee oie 25 
A Saint Louis Shoe Manufacturer.................04. 25 
PUVPACIOL A WALATIULACEULED 2)e\ci steel yiateid 0 sities ass aye eld welts 6. 26 
CHAPTER IiIJ—MERCHANTS 
A Giver of Beneficent Ledgers.................020005 27 
William Christie Herron, of Cincinnati, Ohio.......... 28 
AMMO VMCrCHANWes. ! cc cats accmekn thee gen eaes Goes 29 
Isaac Rich and Alden Speare, of Boston............... 29 
Senator John Macdonald, of Toronto................. 30 
Jonbonboyier, Of New «¥ Orkin neces watedasidiere sites 3 31 
Robert Hamilton, a Canadian Lumberman............ 34 


3 


4 CONTENTS 


CHAPTER IV—LAWYERS, EDITORS, MINISTERS, 


EDUCATORS 
Paap 
A'Chicago Judge. 's 0. cose oe colsia cls oe cies ike ee arene 36 
A Pennsylvania Lawyer ii3 00200 oe case eee 36 


John Peyton Hobson, of Kentucky Court of Appeals... 37 
Daniel Sharp Ford, Proprietor of Youth’s Companion... 38 


Rev. Joseph Parker, London minister................. 39 
Edwin Holt Hughes, Methodist Bishop............... 39 
Harry Pratt Judson, President of the University of 
Chicage eeisn s Viigo k weae oe ty. ern ree ee 39 
John’ F.. Goucher, of /Baltimore:2.s-5 4... 400 seine ee 40 


James Roscoe Day, Chancellor of Syracuse University.. 40 


CHAPTER V—SOME LEADERS IN INDUSTRY 


Morris K. Jesup, of New York. iiu. 30.5. 5.20 se eeoueee 41 
William E. Dodge, of New York................0000- 42 
John D.'Rockefeller, Sr oy co0 ies hselae no slscee up nee 44 
John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in Chicago Address........... 45 


BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES AND REFERENCES............+.- 46 


INTRODUCTORY 


Wiuuiam ArtHour, a Wesleyan Methodist min- 
ister of London, England, and well known in 
other years in the United States, said in his 
famous lecture upon systematic and proportion- 
ate giving, delivered at the City of Belfast, Ire- 
land: 


I Know many men who, at the outset of life, gave a 
tenth. These have all been prosperous men. [I do not 
know one of them but shows that the effect of his early 
adopting one tenth has been to prepare him for a 
higher proportion when years of plenty set in. The 
very night before I left London to give this lecture, I 
asked a valued friend of mine, who had adopted the 
principle of giving a tenth early in life, and whom the 
prospering hand of God had raised from humble be- 
ginnings to a position of great and valuable influence, 
if he ever knew a case in which a man set out on the 
principle of giving a tenth to God, and persevered in it, 
and then failed in life? He answered, “Not one” (1)? 


Long years of study on this subject brought 
Mr. Arthur to the following conclusion: That a 
man’s benevolences should be based upon his : 
ability to give, so that with the growth of wealth 
his scale of giving should also grow. Giving, 
while it is a pleasure and a delight, is also a duty; 
and men can only do this aright when they bring 

1The numbered references are to bibliography given following Chapter V. 


9) 


6 INTRODUCTORY 


to it a system and order not inferior to that 
which they aim at in their business affairs. And 
it is said by Mr. Arthur’s biographer that he 
not only preached these doctrines but practiced 
them as well. While still possessing only the 
slender income of a Methodist minister, he 
sacredly dedicated a portion of it to the service 
of the church and the poor; and when unexpected 
wealth came to him, he acted upon the same 
principles, not only giving enlarged subscrip- 
tions, but making a large thank-offering from 
capital as well (2). 

In all the realm of literature it is doubtful if 
there can be found compassed in short space 
sounder advice for the guidance of the lives of 
young people than contained in the letter which 
William Gladstone wrote to one of his sons, then 
a student at Oxford University. The letter is 
written from Strathconan, and is dated October 
7, 1872. There is recommended the keeping of 
a journal of principal employments for each day; 
an account of receipts and expenditures accu- 
rately kept; the proper use of Sundays; the culti- 
vation of self-help; and then follows this advice 
on the use of money: 


In regard to money as well as to time, there is great 
advantage in its methodical use. Especially is it wise 
to dedicate a certain portion of our means to purposes 
of charity and religion, and this is more easily begun 
in youth than in after life. The greatest advantage 
of making a little fund of this kind is that when we 


INTRODUCTORY 7 


are asked to give, the competition is not between self 
on the one hand and charity on the other, but between 
the different purposes of religion and charity with one 
another, among which we ought to make the most care- 
ful choice. It is desirable that the fund thus devoted 
should not be less than one tenth of our means; and 
it tends to bring a blessing on the rest (3). 


It is said by John Morley, Mr. Gladstone’s 
biographer, that these suggestions, including the 
one just quoted on the use of money, are the 
actual description of his own lifelong habit and 
unbroken practice. His account books show in 
detail that he never at any time in his life de- 
voted less than a tenth of his annual incomings 
to charitable and religious objects. From 1831 
to the end of 1890 Mr. Gladstone devoted to ob- 
jects of charity and religion upward of 70,000 
pounds, and in the remaining years of his life 
the figure in his Benevolent Account stands at 
13,500—this besides 30,000 pounds for his 
cherished object of founding the hostel and 
library at Saint Deniol’s (4). 

Mr. John D. Rockefeller, in his Random Remi- 
niscences of Men and Events, says: 


The education of children in my early days may have 
been straitlaced, yet I have always been thankful that 
the custom was quite general to teach young people to 
give systematically of money that they themselves had 
earned. It is a good thing to lead children to realize 
early the importance of their obligations to others (5). 


These quotations taken from the diverse fields 


8 INTRODUCTORY 


of the ministry, statesmanship, and finance, 
represent, it is believed, the essential elements of 
the philosophy of life which has had a dominat- 
ing influence in the careers of those whose mani- 
fold activities are briefly sketched in this volume. 

It is sometimes said that the princely givers to 
the churches and to charitable and educational 
purposes have often been men who, in the be- 
ginning of their careers, have set aside a tenth 
of their earnings to religious and charitable pur- 
poses. The statement has interested me, and I 
have made some effort, through studies of such 
biographical matter as could be obtained, and 
through correspondence, to find the truth in these 
assertions. The following examples, dealing 
almost exclusively with American philanthro- 
pists, justify one, I think, in giving an affirma- 
tive answer to the inquiry. 

Gladstone said on one occasion that one ea- 
ample was worth a thousand arguments (6). 
May God add his blessing to those who, through 
a study of the lives of those whose careers are 
briefly sketched herein, may feel the call to set 
aside at least a tenth of their earnings to reli- 
gious and humanitarian purposes; and, when 
years of plenty set in, will likewise feel the call 
to an even larger scale of giving. 

James L. SAYLer. 


CHAPTER I 
BANKERS AND THEIR TESTIMONY 


JoHN Stewart Kennepy, banker and philan- 
thropist, who died in New York city October 31, 
1909, had risen from humble circumstances. His 
fortune was accumulated through many years of 
tireless energy and an unusual capacity for 
affairs. His life is said to have been one of the 
most striking recognitions in the history of 
America of that obligation which rests upon men 
who, under our system of government, have risen 
from poverty to wealth—who have made almost 
unlimited use of the great opportunities open to 
every capable and energetic man—to hold their 
wealth not for selfish purposes, but for the bet- 
terment of humanity (7). 

Dr. Parkhurst, in the memorial sermon which 
he preached in the Madison Square Presbyterian 
Church, Sunday, December 5, 1909, said: 


Mr. Kennedy’s Christianity was a pervasive atmos- 
phere which gave breath and subsistence and color to 
every remaining feature of his life. Strict in the ob- 
servance of the Sabbath, constant in his attendance 
upon sanctuary service, fixed in his habits of Bible 
study and contemplation, he was as much a Christian 
when not praying as when he was, and to serve God 


9 


10 AMERICAN TITHERS 


and his fellow man sums up in a word the meaning 
of Mr. Kennedy’s life (8). 


From the start of his business career Mr. 
Kennedy was a tither. This is known. There 
was found among his books one very old in which 
his benefactions were put down. These bene- 
factions bore this heading: “Behold, the tenth of 
all I give unto Thee.” 

During his lifetime he built the United Chari- 
ties Building at the corner of Fourth Avenue and 
Twenty-second Street in New York, and pre- 
sented it to the four philanthropic societies which 
are housed in it. He gave $250,000 to the School 
of Philanthropy, and $1,000,000 to Columbia 
University, the latter anonymously. He gave 
$1,000,000 to the Presbyterian Hospital in 1903, 
and $400,000 to the Nurses’ Home. He gave 
to the Lenox Library, the New York Historical 
Society, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 
He was president of the Board of Trustees of 
Robert College. 

Mr. Kennedy’s estate was valued at $60,000,- 
000. He left nearly $30,000,000 to religious, 
charitable, and educational institutions. Among 
his public bequests contained in his will were: 
$2,250,000 to the Board of Foreign Missions of 
the Presbyterian Church; $2,250,000 to the Pres- 
byterian Board of Home Missions; $2,250,000 to 
the Presbyterian Church Erection Fund; $2,250,- 
000 to the New York Presbyterian Hospital; and 


TESTIMONY OF BANKERS 11 


to the New York Public Library $2,250,000. The 
list of legacies includes forty-six, and includes 
universities and colleges, missionary causes, hos- 
pitals, and other public and benevolent institu- 
tions. 

Horace Bushnell said on one occasion: 


One more revival, only one more, is needed—the re- 
vival of Christian stewardship; the consecration of the 
money power of the church to God; and when that 
revival comes, the kingdom of God will come in a day; 
you can no more prevent it than you can hold back 
the tides of the ocean (9). 


When one considers the widely drawn terms of 
this magnificent will, and the ideas of stewardship 
which preceded it in Mr. Kennedy’s life, there 
comes a realization of the truth in Dr. Bushnell’s 
remarks as to the power to come from a general 
revival in Christian giving. The remarks made 
by Dr. Parkhurst at the Kennedy Memorial Meet- 
ing on a universally minded and universally 
affectioned man are certainly a correct commen- 
tary on this wonderful life: 


A man has not yet come to a full realization of the 
mind of Christ and the meaning of Christianity till he 
has both a heart and a purse for the unconverted 
masses of Japan, China, India, Africa, and the islands 
of the sea; and with some appreciation of what Mr. 
Kennedy was in the fullness of his containings I make 
bold to say, that a man is not to be measured by the 
intensity of his thought or the fervor of his affection, 
but by the distance to which that thought will reach 


12 AMERICAN TITHERS 


and the area which those affections will cover and 
make warm (10). 


Another New York banker with international 
relationships is Mr. Jacob H. Schiff. He has 
recently passed his seventieth birthday. For 
thirty years he has been the head of Kuhn, Loeb 
and Co., one of the most influential private inter- 
national banking firms in America. His power 
as a financier, as a philanthropist, and as a citizen 
is by common consent at the highest point of his 
life. 

Many important accomplishments in America 
and elsewhere owe their success quite as much to 
the financial support and backing of Mr. Schiff 
and his firm as to their actual constructors. The 
Union-Pacific-Southern-Pacific railway system; 
the Pennsylvannia Terminal; and the great tun- 
nels under the Hudson river are among these. 
Mr. Schiff sold in America $200,000,000 worth of 
the Japanese bonds when the Russo-Japanese 
War broke out; and he placed $50,000,000 worth 
of Pennsylvania Railroad bonds in France, where 
they were listed on the Paris Bourse (11). 

The New York Independent in its issue of Janu- 
ary 15, 1917, said of Mr. Schiff: 


He is a confirmed philanthropist. He contributes 
largely of money to colleges, hospitals, libraries, chari- 
table organizations, the Red Cross and similar organi- 
zations. But, what is more, he gives himself. Many 
of the movements in which he is interested owe quite 
as much to his brain and his heart as to his pocket- 


TESTIMONY OF BANKERS 13 


book. He is an efficient philanthropist because he gives 
ungrudgingly and intelligently, and above all, warm- 
heartedly. 


It is rather a well known fact among those 
who have given the matter of systematic giving 
attention that Mr. Schiff has been called a strict 
tither for many years, although his gifts in recent 
years have much overrun the tithe. In 1903 Mr. 
Fritz Morris, writing in Munsey’s Magazine, on 
“The Foremost Jews of To-day,” had this to say 
of Mr. Schiff: 


A Hebrew precept says: “Thou shalt truly tithe all 
the increase of thy seed that the field bringeth forth 
year by year.” There are wealthy Jews in New York, 
where wealthy Jews are many, who live up to the 
letter of the law. A typical representative of this class 
is Jacob H. Schiff, whose name is as familiar in the 
charitable world as in that of finance. It is said that 
Mr. Schiff is a contributor to every local Hebrew 
charity, besides aiding many nonsectarian societies, and 
that the total amount of his gifts is more than one 
hundred thousand dollars annually; but most of his 
benefactions are anonymous (12). 


It is doubtful if there is in any modern book 
to which reference could confidently be made, a 
statement as to the tenets of the Jewish com- 
munity on the subject of religious observances; 
but it is interesting in this connection to give a 
quotation which a London barrister, who wrote 
a volume on The Universal Obligation of Tithes, 
has published, and taken from a letter of a 


14 AMERICAN TITHERS 


prominent Jewish correspondent on this subject: 
This Jewish correspondent says: 


The laws of Leviticus are still held by Jews to be 
binding forever, and are adhered to by strict Jews as 
far as the altered conditions of time, civilization, and 
climate will permit. 

Thus I should say that all strict Jews look upon it 
as a bounden duty to give away one tenth of their in- 
come in support of synagogues and charities. I am, of 
course, far from assuming that all Jews do this. That 
is a question between God and their conscience (13). 


Mr. Schiff’s personal views on tithing quite 
coincide with the views of, this Jewish writer, 
and they are presented herewith as quite an 
authoritative statement, coming as they do from 
one representing the highest type of the American 
citizen : 


The giving of tithes has been enjoined upon the 
Jews by biblical command, which is deeply interned in 
the blood of my coreligionists. Whether this law is 
very generally observed at present times I cannot say, 
but I know that not only in the olden times, but even 
in my own youth yet, observing Jews felt this law as 
binding upon them as any other of the Mosaic com- 
mands, and lived very strictly up to it. 

It is very likely that in a general way, the law of 
tithing is widely observed by Jew and Gentile. Per- 
sonally, I have ever made it a rule at the end of the 
year to pass one tenth of my income to a separate 
account for altruistic and charitable purposes; though 
for many years, with the great and justified demands 
upon the wealthy for the alleviation of misfortune and 
for the fostering of educational and other public pur- 


TESTIMONY OF BANKERS 15 


poses, I dare say, like with me, in the case of most of 
the well-to-do, the simple tithe has proved insufficient; 
and a much larger percentage of income is given. 


Referring to the above statement, Mr. Schiff, in 
a letter to the author under date of July 3, 1918, 
said: 

But it is proper, I add, that under the conditions as 
these have since developed, my views have become con- 
siderably modified; for in the present situation it is 
my opinion that giving for philanthropic, public, and 
national purposes, at least as far as wealthy people are 
concerned, should be to the limit of their income, if 
required, whatever such income may be. 


A third example from the bankers of this coun- 
try is the Hon. Chester Ward Kingsley, of Bos- 
ton. He passed the greater part of his life in 
Cambridge, and in all schemes for the city’s 
good he was found in the fore. For eight years 
he was president of the Brighton National Bank. 
He was in the Massachusetts House of Represen- 
tatives in 1882, 1888, and 1884; and in the Senate 
in 1888 and 1889. He was for thirty years a 
member of the water board, and for a number 
of years president of that body. His zeal and 
foresight as president of the board that inaugu- 
rated the magnificent system of Cambridge, 
caused him to be known as the “Father of the 
Cambridge Water Works” (14). 

He was a trustees of the Newton Theological 
Institute, Colby University, and Worcester 


16 AMERICAN TITHERS 


Academy. He was president of the American 
Baptist Society, and of the Massachusetts Bap- 
tist Convention; and he was for some years one 
of the executive committee of the American Bap- 
tist Missionary Union, and president of the Bap- 
tist Social Union. 

Mr. Kingsley was a life-long tither. When he 
was a young man he was inspired by a sentence 
from his pastor to open a Benevolent Account. 
Many years afterward he testified to that same 
pastor that five hundred thousand dollars had 
passed through that account for the Lord’s 
work (15). This should prove to be a wonderful 
inspiration to young business men just starting 
in their lifework. It is possible, and it is hoped, 
that such a privilege is within the reach of some 
of those who read this volume. 


A vice-president of one of the New York banks 
who has given months and years to the study of 
tithing, and who now has a salary of $25,000 a 
year from the bank with which he is associated, 
states that it has been his practice for some time 
to give as a minimum a tithe of his income to the 
Lord’s work. His custom has been to give to 
the local church with which he is connected a 
tithe of his definite income, such as salary; and 
then to give to denominational and benevolent 
causes out of profits and other increment. This 
has not only been a great satisfaction, but he has 
tried to keep the account methodically correct. 


TESTIMONY OF BANKERS 17 


The names of American bankers in connection 
with systematic giving would be incomplete with- 
out the name of Jay Cooke, the financier of the 
Civil War. The business houses with which he 
was prominently connected not only tithed their 
profits for religious and charitable work, but he 
tithed his own income in addition. 

He gave vast sums of money to rebuild churches 
in the South. He became known as a great phi- 
lanthropist; and repeated calls were made upon 
him from many parts of the United States. 
Necessarily many of these calls had to be refused ; 
but many gifts ranging from small amounts up 
to five and ten thousand dollars were granted. 
Mr. Cooke was a great respecter of the Sabbath 
day and insisted upon his partners and coworkers 
in the financial world observing it as a day of 
rest. He was identified with many charitable 
and civic societies in Philadelphia, and was 
liberal in his gifts to the American Bible Union. 
In his charities he knew no lines of creed or reli- 
gious differences. There was a universality in 
his giving as there was in that of Mr. Kennedy. 

Mr. Cooke’s services to the United States gov- 
ernment, during the Civil War, in providing the 
required funds to prosecute the war, were very 
valuable. No other man in America, at a critical 
time, could have secured the funds as he did. 
For ten years, during this critical period, he un- 
doubtedly had the clearest financial mind of any 
man in America (16). 


CHAPTER II 
THE WORD OF MANUFACTURERS 


Tur founder of the Baldwin Locomotive Works 
in Philadelphia, Matthias W. Baldwin, early in 
life set aside one tenth of his income for religious 
and charitable work. His interest in civic and 
religious improvement had a tremendous influ- 
ence in Philadelphia. In the days of his pros- 
perity he gave far more than a tenth to religious 
work. He was a devoted member of the Presby- 
terian Church. He was greatly interested in the 
colored race; and helped them in many ways 
educationally. During times of great trial finan- 
cially for the Baldwin Locomotive Works he still 
insisted that one tenth of the net profits be set 
aside for religious and charitable work. He in- 
sisted that that was the one safe investment. In 
a recent volume issued by the present manage- 
ment of the Baldwin Locomotive Works they 
have this to say of the founder: 


From the earlier years of his business life the prac- 
tice of systematic beneficence was made a duty and a 
pleasure. His liberality constantly increased with his 
means. Indeed, he would unhesitatingly give his notes 
in large sums for charitable purposes, when money was 
absolutely needed to carry on his business. 


18 


THE WORD OF MANUFACTURERS 19 


The notes referred to were always paid. Mr. 
Baldwin was one of the most active founders of 
the Franklin Institute in 1824, and in after life 
a prominent supporter of its educational enter- 
prises. He was widely known as a builder of 
churches and missions. His heart and purse 
seemed always ready to respond to appeals from 
deserving sources. He opened a school for 
colored children in Philadelphia, and for years 
paid the salaries of the teachers. 


A contemporary of Mr. Baldwin was William 
Colgate, of New York. In America there are few 
houses better known than Colgate and Company, 
perfumers and soap-makers. They have been in 
business for more than a century. William Col- 
gate, the founder of the enterprise, early in life, 
when in humble circumstances, began to give a 
tenth of his earnings to religious and charitable 
purposes. His sons, who succeeded him in the 
business, followed the same principle. With in- 
creased wealth came an increasing sense of re- 
sponsibility to the community at large. Mr. Col- 
gate was one of the most prominent members of 
the Baptist Church in America. He was one of 
the thirteen founders of the American Bible 
Union. From the time that the Hamilton Liter- 
ary and Theological Seminary was established 
at Hamilton, New York, he contributed largely 
to its support; and by the time it became Madi- 
son University, in 1846, five eighths of the prop- 


20 AMERICAN TITHERS 


erty had been contributed by Mr. Colgate and his 
sons. Mr. Colgate’s biographer says of his giv- 
ing: 

His benevolence was a religious conviction; it re- 
duced his charities to system, made them a means of 
self-culture and an homage to God. He dispensed his 


gifts both with purpose and proportion; and recog- 
nized at all times his stewardship to God (17). 


A later president of the Baldwin Locomotive 
Works was Mr. John H. Converse, of Philadel- 
phia. Like Mr. Baldwin he set aside a tenth of 
his income for religious and charitable purposes; 
and, like Mr. Baldwin, in times of prosperity he 
far exceeded the tenth in his expenditures for 
these causes. He was one of the prime movers 
in the evangelization of the cities on a large 
scale. He said at one time on this question, “At- 
tack the cities first.” 

That his work might be continued after his 
death he left a trust fund of $200,000 for use 
in evangelization work. He had an unalterable 
and a simple faith in the divine character of 
Jesus Christ, and that sin could be effaced only 
through his grace. One year when the Locomo- 
tive Works were not very profitable he gave 
$400,000 for religious and charitable work. He 
collected at his home a number of fine works of 
art. At college when elected to the Phi Beta 
Kappa he did not join immediately because he 
did not have the five dollars required to pay for 


THE WORD OF MANUFACTURERS 21 


the key. In the later years of his life he gave 
great attention to civic and religious work. The 
wisdom of his judgment was demonstrated not 
only in the great success of the plant with which 
he was connected as its president, but in the 
great number of movements with which he was 
connected. 

Mr. Converse was an executive, a man of me- 
thodical habits, sound sense and conservative 
views. The range of his interests included the 
directorate of several banks, societies devoted to 
the arts and sciences, educational institutions, 
the official boards of his home church at Bryn 
Mawr and of Calvary Church in Philadelphia, 
the Bible class that he taught, and the world- 
wide evangelistic work that he endowed. 

Mr. Philip E. Howard, of Philadelphia, says 
of Mr. Converse: 

His faith was not a mere theory to be preached in 
words, but a practical matter to be applied to daily 
living. He concentrated upon the task in hand, and 
did not take on the needless burdens of an unseen 
future. His whole nature turned with increasing zeal 
to Christian service of many kinds, but most of all to 
the work of evangelism. Individual soul-winning en- 
gaged him far more than most of those associated with 
him in organized work could realize (18). 


Another Pennsylvanian of the same type was 
Mr. Samuel Pollock Harbison, of Pittsburgh, 
president of the Harbison-Walker Refractories 
Company, makers of fire brick. He was born at 


22 AMERICAN TITHERS 


Bakerstown, Allegheny County, September 25, 
1840, and died at Pittsburgh, May 10, 1905. He 
was a member of the Board of Freemen of the 
Presbyterian Church in the United States; a 
member of the Board of Trustees of the Young 
Men’s Christian Association of Pittsburgh; a 
member of the Evangelistic Committee of the 
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church; a 
member of the Forward Committee of the Board 
of Foreign Missions; a member of the Advisory 
Committee of the Woods Run Industrial Home; 
Chairman of the Board of Directors and Senior 
Member of the Harbison-Walker Refractories 
Company, of Pittsburgh; a director of the Penn- 
sylvania National Bank; and a generous giver 
to many charitable and religious societies. 

Mrs. Harbison, in giving an account of his life, 
says: 

With his very first earnings he began systematic 
giving and keeping a strict account of all expenses—a 
habit which grew with the years, and as his means 
increased, so did the love of distribution until, from 
a tenth he gave his entire income outside of living 
expenses. He never pursued money as an object and 
always accepted prosperity as a direct gift from God. 
Indeed, the question of stewardship was to him a very 
vital one, and which he has used to help many who 
had never known the joy of Christian giving (19). 


The following extract from his will shows his 
attitude toward giving, and also that as he him- 
self had acted so he desired his children and 


THE WORD OF MANUFACTURERS 23 


family to act. As it is trae in many cases, where 
the father has set the example the sons have 
followed in their father’s practice. This is the 
extract: 


I have made no provision in my will for any chari- 
table bequests, as I have, during my life, administered 
largely on my own estate and have, from year to year, 
given to the Lord’s work and other charities, as though 
it was my last. In leaving my estate to my family it 
is my hope that they may act upon the same principle, 
remembering that the King’s business requires haste, 
and that what we do for Him ought to be done quickly, 
so that, should He come in my time or in your time, 
we be not found with His money in our hands that 
ought to be out doing service in His cause. 


Mr. Harbison took a great interest in the 
spread of the gospel. He loved to teach the Bible. 
In his wide travels he made friends easily, and 
the conversation was usually brought around to 
some missionary or other similar topic. The ex- 
pressions as to the sincerity of his character, his 
broad culture, his active interest in the church 
were testified to by a very great many persons 
who were closely associated with him in the work 
of the Presbyterian Church, of which he was a 
member. 


The United Brethren Church has had no more 
loyal member and none giving more largely to its 
various causes than John Dodds, president of 
the Ohio Rake Company, of Dayton, Ohio. Mr. 


24 AMERICAN TITHERS 


Dodds started in life by selling books. He was 
industrious and early started in giving away his 
money systematically. In later life he wrote a 
little volume on systematic giving; and in this 
he attributed his ability to help in the building 
of churches, in the support of ministers, to the 
starting of missions in cities, to his early habit 
of systematic giving. He did not give in great 
sums to any one cause, but he was always giving 
and gave to a manifold number of causes. Dur- 
ing seasons of backwardness financially he would 
buy winter coal to help ministers in Kansas, 
Nebraska, and Colorado. He gave to building 
churches in distant places, and helped in many 
city missions. Bishop W. M. Weekly, in his 
“Getting and Giving,” said that John Dodds was 
one of the most striking examples of what per- 
sistence in systematic giving would accomplish in 
the production of large and helpful results (20). 


In England the one who perhaps more than 
any other person has done most to promote tithe- 
paying is the Rev. Henry Landsell, D.D., chaplain 
of Morden College, Blackheath—minister, trav- 
eler, and writer. He is the author of the most 
complete and comprehensive work on tithe-paying 
which has been issued. The title is The Sacred 
Tenth, or Studies in Tithe-Giving Ancient and 
Modern; two volumes; issued in 1906 by the So- 
ciety for Promoting Christian Knowledge, of 
London (21). 


THE WORD OF MANUFACTURERS 25 


The one in America who has perhaps done more 
to promote tithing is a Chicago manufacturer— 
Mr. Thomas Kane. He maintains an office force 
to send out literature on the subject (22). Dur- 
ing the past forty years he has expended annually 
from a few hundred to several thousand dollars on 
his tithe and charitable work. His publications 
have always been made under the pseudonym of 
“Layman.” Mr. Kane’s viewpoint is that one is 
benefited both spiritually and financially by giving 
one tenth of one’s income to religious and chari- 
table purposes. He has sent out many thousands 
of inquiries to this purpose: My personal belief is 
that God honors both temporally and spiritually 
those who devote one tenth of their income to his 
cause. I have never known an exception. Have 
you? 

A recent writer for the American Magazine 
has this to say of Mr. Kane: 


He is the head of two big manufacturing concerns, 
an active member of the Union League Club, an elder 
in the Presbyterian Church, and there is scarcely a 
charity or a church organization in the district in 
which he or his wife is not interested. That is the 
reason of his perennial youth. Mr. Kane has never 
lived in the past—but in the future. He has a fine 
sense of humor and a fine sense of honor. He believes 
that God is good, that life is good, and that any human 
being who leads a normal, decent life will find it 
s0 (23). 


A prominent shoe manufacturer of Saint Louis, 


26 AMERICAN TITHERS. 


who has given many thousands of dollars to his 
church and to benevolent work, has been a tither 
for the past twenty-five years. Every six months 
he takes an inventory of his business and sets 
aside one tenth of the net profits for benevolent 
work. During the past few years he has greatly 
exceeded the tithe in his gifts. He reports that he 
was led to adopt the practice by hearing about 
it from others. 

John Wesley Duncan, of Indianapolis, in his 
Christian Stewardship, tells of an Indiana manu- 
facturer who began his career by working at the 
bench for ten dollars a week. One dollar of that 
he considered sacred to the cause of the church 
and regularly gave it as his contribution. The 
members of the church having charge of the 
finances told him it was too much. His only 
reply was that he thought it was his duty to give 
it. Later he has had a business which has yielded 
him a princely income; and he has given many 
thousands of dollars to the cause of the church 
(24). 


CHAPTER III 
MERCHANTS 


AN iron merchant in the State of New York, 
who has given away Beneficent Ledgers, to the 
number of eighteen hundred, to those who adopt 
systematic giving, commenced tithing fifty-six 
years ago, and has kept strict account for more 
than fifty years. He was in the Civil War, and 
was obliged to keep an account in a memorandum 
book from 1861 to 1864; but after his discharge 
from the army, and when he entered business 
life, he found that he had a silent partner who 
was to’draw one tenth of his income, and it was 
essential that he should keep the account in a 
businesslike manner. He is convinced that this 
system gives one a grateful heart, and also that 
the gift is made freely, which is the only kind 
of gift which is pleasing to the Lord. 

For many years this gentleman has given 
Beneficent Ledgers to those who adopt the plan. 
He has found it impossible to buy these in any 
bookshop, and for that reason he has them made. 
He makes no charge for them, as they are paid 
for out of his tithe fund. Whatever of success 
he has had in life he attributes to the adoption 
of the tithing system fifty-six years ago. 

27 


28 AMERICAN TITHERS 


A noted citizen of Cincinnati, and a member 
of the well known iron firm of Rogers, Brown and 
Company, was William Christie Herron, of Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio. He had been very successful in 
business and had accumulated a fortune of per- 
haps $250,000. He had been a lifelong tither, 
and often made mention of the fact. He ren- 
dered valuable assistance to the various depart- 
ments of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of 
which he was a member. At the time of his re- 
tirement from business in August, 1901, the Cin- 
cinnati papers printed about two columns con- 
cerning his remarkable business career, and 
stating that he was retiring from business the 
better to devote his efforts to the various charita- 
ble and philanthropic societies with which he was 
connected. 

Mr. Herron died at Cincinnati May 21, 1909. 
The Loyal Legion, of which he was a member, in 
their memorial of his life, paid the following high 
tribute to the eminently useful character of his 
life: 


The simple record of William Christie Herron’s life, 
and the recollections of his unselfish labors in the cause 
of philanthropy and religion, of civic betterment and 
world-wide peace all bear eloquent and ample testimony 
to his patriotism as a soldier, his fidelity as a citizen, 
his devotion as a Christian, and his high rank as a 
philanthropist and lover of his fellow men. 

In business life he was energetic, capable, and suc- 
cessful, and for many years a member of the well-known 
firm of Rogers, Brown and Company, from which he 


MERCHANTS 29 


retired a few years ago, the more fully to devote him- 
self to the ever-widening circle of public benefactions 
and philanthropic work, to which he gave so freely of 
his means and personal service. 

A devoted member and trusted official of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, he was recently honored by 
its highest gift to a layman: the appointment as a 
member of the General Book Committee. 

As a director of the Associated Charities, a vice- 
president of the Young Men’s Christian Association, a 
trustee of the Children’s Home and Christ Hospital and 
Deaconess’ Home, and a valued adviser in the council 
of many other philanthropies, both local and national, 
his wide business experience, broad charity, and gener- 
ous giving made him an invaluable worker, conspicuous 
for his wise counsels and faithful services. 

Most notable was his work in connection with the 
International Peace Society of which principles he was 
an ardent advocate, serving for many years as a mem- 
ber of its executive committee and giving largely of his 
time and personal effort to promote its objects. 


In a small town in Ohio containing a popula- 
tion of about three hundred a young man failed 
in business. Later he was led to adopt Christ 
as his Saviour, and at the same time he adopted 
the tithing principle. Twenty-four years later he 
owned his own store; employs six to eight clerks, 
and has one of the largest businesses in a small 
town of any merchant in the United States. He 
has given thousands of dollars to benevolent and 
religious causes (25). 


One of the founders of Boston University was 
Isaac Rich. He entered Boston as penniless as 


30 AMERICAN TITHERS 


Franklin entered Philadelphia. In the fish busi- 
ness be became the acknowledged master in the 
United States. He gave over $400,000 with his 
own hand to many religious and educational in- 
stitutions. When he died he bequeathed a con- 
siderable portion of his fortune to Boston Uni- 
versity. Isaac Rich and Alden Speare, cofounders 
of Boston University, were both lifelong tithers. 
The same is true of Christopher R. Robert, 
founder of Robert College, of Constantinople 
(26), which college has had the generous sup- 
port of William E. Dodge and John Stewart 
Kennedy, whose careers are sketched in this 
volume. 

A Canadian example of importance is that of 
Senator John Macdonald, of Toronto, head of 
one of the leading dry goods stores in the Do- 
minion. At one time when many of the business 
houses of Canada were being investigated, owing 
to a financial stringency, an accountant for a 
banking firm was going over the books of the 
firm of Macdonald & Co. The accountant finally 
discovered that a tenth of the profits were care- 
fully set aside for religious and charitable work. 
He immediately closed the books and recom- 
mended to his bank that such credit as the firm 
desired should be extended. Mr. Macdonald’s 
integrity in the business world was unquestioned ; 
and his success in business in Toronto was un- 
excelled. He was an able adviser of the Meth- 
odist Church on many of its affairs, and in edu- 


MERCHANTS 31 


cational matters, assistance to the Young Men’s 
Christian Association, and similar enterprises, 
his help both financially and in an advisory 
capacity was great at all times. 

In his lecture to the young men of Toronto 
at the Young Men’s Christian Association, on 
“Business Success,” he has this to say: 


He is the most successful who, in addition to the 
capital employed in his business, has means and time 
to do good with them; whose life, in the best sense, is 
a busy one; who makes money not only by his fellow 
men, but for them, who enjoys life as he passes through 
it; who, though in business, is a busy man; is, in the 
best sense, a busy worker who is watchful to improve 
those opportunities where his means, influence, and 
experience enable him to do the most good (27). 


A New York Methodist, widely known for his 
charities, was John S. Huyler, head of the Huyler 
candy stores. He had a godly father and mother, 
and their influence, he said, had been a potent 
one in finally leading him into an intense interest 
in God’s work on earth as well as to a simple 
faith in Jesus Christ. One night in New York 
he had received at the end of the year a check 
for his share of the profits for the preceding year 
in the candy business with which he was afiili- 
ated. He was so little interested in it that he 
failed to notice its amount. He was on his way 
to attend a meeting of young men, which was 
then held in cities like New York, to mark the 
closing of the old year and the beginning of the 


32 AMERICAN TITHERS 


new. On his way to this meeting he stopped and 
looked at his check. The amount was staggering, 
and it then came to him what a responsibility 
there was upon him for its just use. He changed 
his course and went to the midnight service which 
his mother was attending, and there knelt at the 
altar with her. Later, in the city of Paris, a 
final decision was made to give his life to the 
church and to the service of God’s cause and his 
people. 

At the Memorial Service held in Mr. Huyler’s 
honor, Sunday, October 16, 1910, the Rev. Charles 
L. Goodell, D.D., said: 


Mr. Huyler believed profoundly in conversion. He 
was himself a man of natural kindness of heart, he was 
generous and open-hearted. He was not a fault-finder. 
He was kindly and sympathetic to the last degree. But 
it was not until the grace of God touched his heart, 
that he began his great benefactions to the world. He 
never seemed to himself to have measured up to his 
obligation as a steward of God’s great gifts, but I have 
never known any one who had so much conscience in 
his giving. Speaking of it to me one day in his quiet 
way, he said: I heard the preachers say that a man 
should give one tenth to the Lord; and after a while 
I gave a fifth, and later I gave a fourth, and then one 
half, and then, he said, “‘I ceased to keep account” (28). 


His secretary said that in one year seventeen 
thousand applicants for charity had passed his 
desk. Few of these went away empty handed. 
It has been estimated that on an average he gave 


MERCHANTS 33 


away a thousand dollars a day. He did not hold 
applicants at arm’s length, but went to them 
personally at the old Jerry McAuley Mission, and 
took a personal interest in their problems him- 
self. He often said we must give these men 
material relief; but we must also tell them of 
Jesus. 

The following remarks of the Rey. Frank 
Mason North, D.D., show to some degree the tre- 
mendous range which Mr. Huyler’s philanthropic 
and charitable interests took: 


His interest in men covered a wide area. In reach, 
in variety, and in specialization his good will was ever 
seeking new channels, until there seemed to be no phase 
of human need and no project of the Kingdom which 
did not concern him. He felt profoundly the impor- 
tance of education, of the physical, mental, and moral 
training of the young. Yet he was not restricted to 
the generous support of our typical institutions of 
learning. He responded freely to the requisitions of 
such centers of power as Syracuse University, Drew 
Theological Seminary, and Wesleyan University. Col- 
leges and schools, east and west in our own land, and 
across seas, have felt his substantial sympathy. But 
equally he was devoted to the unusual institutions 
organized to meet peculiar needs, to such southern 
schools as Tuskegee, Alabama, and Morristown, Tennes- 
see, for the training of colored youth; to the trade 
schools of our city and to all phases of industrial educa- 
tion, to the vacation schools—both those conducted by 
the Board of Education and those under church aus- 
pices—and to the kindergartens, some of which he 
largely supported. It would be difficult to estimate the 
number of students, young men and young women, to 


34 AMERICAN TITHERS 


whom an education, academic, or industrial, has been 
made possible by his thoughtful bounty. He measured 
the power of discipline and culture and eagerly ac- 
cepted the privilege of increasing it (29). 


Another Canadian of great prominence and 
religious zeal was Robert Hamilton, a lumber 
merchant of Montreal, Toronto, and Quebec. His 
vast gifts to the work of the Episcopal Church 
of Canada, of which he was a member, made him 
a marked man in that church. His work was 
done with a loving sympathy and a business care 
which spoke volumes for his sincerity and his 
devotion to the work of the Master. 

At the Synod of 1877, the bishop and clergy 
presented to Mr. Hamilton an address full of 
gratitude and affection, in acknowledgment of all 
that he had done and was doing to build up the 
church. Mr. Hamilton was deeply touched by 
this address and returned a beautiful answer. 
There is one clause in this answer which is espe- 
cially valuable in revealing how he came to be 
able and willing to give so largely and so beauti- 
fully to every worthy object that was brought 
before him. This part of his answer was as fol- 
lows: 


If I have been able to do anything in any degree 
useful to this diocese, it is due in a large measure to 
a book called Gold and the Gospel, the perusal of a 
portion of which satisfied me of the propriety—I should 
say the duty—of a man’s adopting the principle for 
his guidance of giving. I mean, the principle of giving 


MERCHANTS 35 


a certain proportion of his income to the service of 
God and the good of his fellow men. I do not venture 
to name any proportion, nor limit the giving to that 
proportion (30). 


Mr. Hamilton’s estate at the time of his death 
was $2,750,000. About $275,000 of this was be- 
queathed to various charitable and religious 
objects, the remainder going to his relatives (31). 
There was the following clause in his will: 


I desire to recommend to my widow and children 
the practice of devoting a certain proportion (I would 
suggest the tenth) of their income, to the service of 
Almighty God and the relief of his suffering members. 


CHAPTER IV 


LAWYERS, EDITORS, MINISTERS, 
EDUCATORS 


A suncE of one of the courts in Chicago, a trus- 
‘tee of the University of Chicago, and a man to 
whom great honors and temporal prosperity have 
come, was led to adopt tithing more than thirty- 
five years ago, through the efforts of Mr. Thomas 
Kane, of Chicago, then an active member of the 
Third Presbyterian Church. This lawyer testi- 
fies that the plan of systematic giving has been 
to him a matter of very great satisfaction; and 
that he has urged upon others the undoubted 
advantages of the plan. 

A Pennsylvania lawyer, prominent as a legal 
writer, and who has been honored by delivering 
the Yale Lectures at the Divinity School, known 
as the Lyman Beecher Lectures, has advocated 
tithing in occasional addresses. He has been a 
tither for many years. On one occasion when 
he was successful in a case before the United 
States Supreme Court, and received a fee of one 
hundred thousand dollars, he very promptly sent 
his pastor a check for ten thousand dollars to 
use in the religious and benevolent work of the 
church. This gentleman is highly regarded in 
all circles for his balance of mind, his clear com- 
prehension of moral issues, and his fearlessness 


36 


WORDS OF PROFESSIONAL MEN = 87 


in saying what he believes after he has fully 
formed his opinions. Speaking one time at Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, he said the following concerning 
missionary efforts: 


In this wave of missionary enterprise I seem to see 
a danger worth noting. There is a danger we shall 
become so intent on Christianizing the other fellow 
that we shall forget to be Christians ourselves. The 
tendency is to substitute subjective effort for spiritual 
self-development. 

Notwithstanding the enormous value of giving to 
the cause I plead with you that no amount of giving 
of money, even though it be a genuine sacrifice, can be 
substituted for personal work. The highest missionary 
work is reserved for the church in which every member 
is a missionary. 


John Peyton Hobson, chief justice of the Ken- 
tucky Court of Appeals, has been a tither for 
many years, and has written tracts upon the 
subject that are often quoted. He was educated 
at Washington College, now Washington and Lee 
University. He was admitted to the bar in 1871. . 
On one occasion when he received a very large 
fee some of his friends wondered if it would be 
tithed, as they knew he had advocated and prac- 
ticed tithing for many years. It was very 
promptly tithed. He has advocated in many pub- 
lic ways the binding character in law and in 
conscience of the practice. 

Judge Hobson said on one occasion: 


If people would practice tithing, few Christians, after 


38 AMERICAN TITHERS 


trying it faithfully, would be willing to deny themselves 
the privilege. 


A Boston example of prominence is that of 
Daniel Sharp Ford, editor and owner of the 
Youth’s Companion (32). He was energetic and 
thrifty. He took great personal pains to make 
the Youth’s Companion a worthy volume for the 
young. Few men have taken the pains to see 
that nothing unworthy should go into the 
columns of publications of that kind. From his 
early life he gave generously to the church and 
to manifold charities. The extent of his bene- 
factions will not be known. He was a believer 
in helping those who were temporarily in need 
of financial assistance. When he died he left an 
estate valued at about $2,500,000. A large part 
of this was given to the founding of Ford Hall 
in Boston, and for other work connected with the 
Baptist denomination. His help was always 
generously paid, and he had given much thought 
to the solution of the problem of friction between 
capital and labor. 

It was said of Mr. Ford as it has been 
said in earlier times concerning the Hon. Rufus 
Choate: 


The Bible, so early absorbed and never forgotten, 
saturated his mind and spirit more than any other, 
more than all other books combined, and upon this 
solid rock of the Scriptures he built a magnificent 
structure of knowledge and acquirement, to which few 
men in America have ever attained (33). 


WORDS OF PROFESSIONAL MEN — 39 


Rev. Joseph Parker, in his Stonewall Breaking 
Down Sermon, preached in New Court Chapel, 
Tollington Park, on behalf of the Colonial Mis- 
sionary Society, Monday, May 18, 1895, said: 


Now, if I were a constructor of Congregational 
churches, I would never allow any man to become a 
church member until he pledged himself to give one 
tenth of his income to Christ. It would reduce the 
church roll, but it would increase the church fire. Self- 
taxation in money, in service, sacrificing at some 
crucial point—that is Christianity. 


Edwin Holt Hughes, a bishop of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, author of The Bible and Life, 
Says: 

While I do not believe in teaching tithing as an Old 
Testament obligation continued in the new dispensation, 
I am a firm believer in tithing as the best beginning 
of a system of giving to the cause of God. It would 
finance the Kingdom plenteously. If its practice were 
general, we would be embarrassed by a surplus of funds 
until such time as we extended our religious work to 
fit the larger treasuries. 


Mr. Harry Pratt Judson, president of the Uni- 
versity of Chicago, in an address delivered at 
Mandel Hall, Chicago, November 4, 1915, on “The 
Spread of the Spirit of Christianity,” said con- 
cerning his then recent visit, with a committee 
charged with the duty of ascertaining the needs 
in China for hospitals and medical assistance: 


Some prominent men in China have adopted the spirit 


40 AMERICAN TITHERS 


of the Christian religion, and are supporting the Young 
Men’s Christian Association and similar enterprises. 
After all, a man’s willingness to help in such practical 
causes is a very good index of the reality of his religion. 


During a period of twenty years Dr. John F. 
Goucher, of Baltimore, has invested $100,000 in 
India in support of missionary effort and fifty 
thousand idolaters have turned away from hea- 
thenism, confessing Christ as their Saviour and 
Lord (34). 

James Roscoe Day, chancellor of Syracuse Uni- 
versity, says: 


Some things praying will do and some things preach- 
ing will do, but there are other things nothing but 
money will do. Since the days the manna stopped 
falling in the wilderness, and the quails stopped flying 
to the hungry, we have been obliged to use money to 
rescue the perishing. 


And in his Raid on Prosperity, issued in 1907, 
he said, concerning the great charitable trust 
funds, such as those of Rockefeller, Carnegie, and 
Sage: 


The great charitable and educational trust funds are 
not large. They are relatively small. One hundred 
millions of last year’s gifts was a drop in the bucket. 
We are startled by the “enormous total’ simply be- 
cause we have not seen the world giving its tenths to 
God’s great charities. If the Hebrew tithe were applied, 
there would not be room to contain it. We are too far 
away from that to begin to put on the brakes and 
reverse the engine (35). 


CHAPTER V 


SOME LEADERS IN INDUSTRY 

Morris K. Jusup, formerly president of the 
Chamber of Commerce in New York city, and 
founder of the Y. M. C. A. there, has been looked 
upon as one of the most generous givers in 
America (36). In the iron business, in which 
he was engaged for many years, he made a 
marked success. His business methods were such 
that they were looked upon as models by many 
competitors and those in allied lines of industry. 
Young men eagerly sought him for advice on how 
to succeed. Invariably his answer was that they 
should do two things: First: They should learn 
to do the work of the one next above them; and, 
second, they should begin early to give away a 
portion of their income (87). He said he looked 
upon the latter as one of the great factors in 
his life; and that he had been led into this prac- 
tice by the one with whom he had studied busi- 
ness—Mr. Grosvener—and he wished to pass this 
on to the rising generation. 

At a time in middle life when his business was 
rapidly growing and his interest in charitable 
and benevolent work was increasing it was clear 
that he must do one of two things—either con- 

41 


42 AMERICAN TITHERS 


tinue with his rapidly growing business and give 
up a considerable part of the time he had been 
devoting to charitable and philanthropic work, 
or surrender his business into other hands and 
devote the remainder of his life to the field of 
philanthropy. He deliberately chose the latter, 
and New York and the country has been greatly 
enriched by his so doing. His services to the 
church, to hospitals, to the Young Men’s Chris- 
tian Association, to Captain Peary in his ex- 
plorations, are but a few of the manifold public 
enterprises in which his time and thought as well 
as money was given. 


Another President of the New York Chamber 
of Commerce, who started early in life to give 
away at least ten per cent of his small earnings, 
was William Earl Dodge. In later life his gifts 
far exceeded the tenth. At the time of his death 
in New York in 1888, it was estimated that for 
many years his gifts to charitable, religious, and 
educational purposes amounted to $100,000 per 
annum. He was interested in a great variety 
of business undertakings: in a foundry, in rail- 
roads, in farm lands in many States, and various 
enterprises in New York city. For twelve years 
he was a member of the Presbyterian Board of 
Foreign Missions, and treasurer of the Protestant 
College at Beirut. He contributed to the build- 
ing of Reunion Hall at Princeton Theological 
Seminary, New Jersey, and toward the fund for 


SOME LEADERS IN INDUSTRY 43 


the president’s chair. He subscribed $10,000 for 
the creation of the Yale Theological Seminary 
Building at New Haven, Connecticut. He en- 
dowed the president’s chair of Williams College, 
Massachusetts, by a donation of $30,000, and 
aided other objects of the institution. He con- 
tributed $16,000 to Lafayette College, at Easton, 
Pennsylvania. He established scholarships at 
Dartmouth and Hamilton Colleges; and gave to 
the general funds of Lane Theological Seminary 
and the Seminaries at Bangor, Chicago, and Cali- 
fornia, and to Amherst, Beloit, Marietta, Oberlin, 
and other colleges, as well as to the University 
of Virginia and a number of institutions in the 
South. These are but a few of his benefactions. 
They were incessant, lavish, and diversified; and 
yet they were sagaciously bestowed. 

The Rev. H. M. Field, at the Commencement 
of Williams College, in 1883—an address in 
memory of Mr. Dodge, as one of the benefactors 
of the institution—said : 


Mr. Dodge’s wealth was a sacred trust; he was but 
the steward to administer it; and the more that was 
poured into his lap, the greater were his obligations. 
There was no plainer duty, as there was no higher joy, 
than to bestow upon others some portion of that which 
the great Giver and Benefactor had bestowed upon him. 
With such a principle once settled in his mind and 
formed into a habit, it was no effort for him to give 
away money. It did not cost him a struggle with 
selfishness every time he was asked to contribute to a 
good cause; on the contrary, it was a pleasure to give. 


44. AMERICAN TITHERS 


He sought for opportunities to use his means most 
effectively. Giving from principle, his gifts were as 
regular as his family prayers and as he increased in 
wealth, they took on increasing proportions, till they 
outran all precedent. I doubt if our country has fur- 
nished another incident of such princely liberality (38). 


By common consent America’s greatest organ- 
izer in business affairs has been Mr. John D. 
Rockefeller. The same study in a minute and 
masterful way which he has applied to the move- 
ments of industry and commerce he has used in 
his benevolent and charitable work. Annually 
he makes a gift of $300,000 to foreign missions; 
and his great gifts to education, to medical re- 
search, and manifold other agencies of a social 
service character make him perhaps the most 
conspicuous man in work of that character which 
this or any other age has produced. Those in- 
terested in the essential elements of a founda- 
tion for religious, charitable, or educational pur- 
pose cannot find any short statement more satis- 
fying or helpful than Mr. Rockefeller’s chapters 
on “The Difficult Art of Giving” and “The Be- 
nevolent Trust—The Value of the Cooperative 
Principle in Giving” in his Reminiscences. 

As stated in the introduction, Mr. Rockefeller 
in his Reminiscences of Men and Events stated 
that not the least of the advantages of his early 
home training was the fact that children were 
taught regularly to give away to good works 
systematically out of the money which they had 


SOME LEADERS IN INDUSTRY 45 


earned. His early account book shows that he did 
this. He has been quoted in one interview as say- 
ing, quoting the language of John Wesley, that he 
thought it was the duty of every man “to make all 
the money he can, save all he can, and give away 
all he can.” And he added: “I have followed this 
principle religiously all my life” (39). As he him- 
self was taught so he has tried to teach his chil- 
dren. Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., has very force- 
fully stated the principles which have guided his 
own as well as his father’s life. In an address, de- 
livered at the University of Chicago, June 6, 1916, 
to the graduating class at that time, he said: 


Success consists not in getting, but in giving. In 
this somewhat materialistic age emphasis is too often 
laid on getting. The value of getting knowledge, power, 
possessions, influence, is only that they may be used in 
some useful way for others. That man alone is truly 
great who renders great service to his fellow men. Let 
your knowledge, power, and influence be transferred 
into service for humanity along that line in which you 
are best equipped. In this way will you fulfill the 
supreme purpose of life (40). 


12. 
13. 


BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES AND REFERENCES 


Richard Duke, “Material Rewards of Tithing,” The 
Christian Steward; Vol. XII, No. 1, p. 14 (July, 
1916), 515 Wesley Buildings, Toronto, Canada. 

T. Bowman Stephenson, B.A., D.D., William Arthur 
—A Brief Biography. London, Robert Culley; pp. 
57-59. 

John Morley, The Life of William Ewart Glad- 
stone. New York, The Macmillan Company (1911); 
Vol. I, p. 205. 

Ibid., Vol. III, pp. 419-420. 

John D. Rockefeller, Random Reminiscences of 
Men and Events; New York: Doubleday, Page & 
Company (1909), p. 146. 

James Terry White, Character Lessons in Ameri- 
can Biography for Public Schools and Home In- 
struction; New York: The Character Development 
League; Introduction. 

The Lesson of a Great Generosity; The Outlook, 
Vol. XCIII, p. 618; November 20, 1909. 

The Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst, D.D., In Memoriam 
John Stewart Kennedy; Died October 81st, 1909; 
A Sermon Preached in the Madison Square Presby- 
terian Church, Sunday, December 5th, 1909; Pri- 
vately Printed, New York; 1910; p. 17. 

George W. Brown, Gems of Thought on Tithing; 
Jennings & Graham, and Eaton & Mains, p. 179. 
Dr. Parkhurst’s Memorial Sermon, p. 14. 

See The Cosmopolitan; Vol. XXXIV, p. 699, April, 
1903; and Current Opinion; Vol. L:XI, pp. 19, 20. 
Vol. XXX, p. 230. 

K. Peck (A Barrister); The Universal Obligation 
of Tithes; London; Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster 
Row, H. C. (1901); p. 27. 


46 


14. 


15. 


16. 


17. 


18. 


19. 


20. 


21, 


22. 


23. 
24. 


25. 


BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES 47 


Samuel Atkins Elliott, History of Cambridge: Cam- 
bridge: pp. 217-219. 

The Christian Steward; Vol. II, No. 1. p. 3. 
Charles A. Cook, Stewardship and Missions; Pub- 
lished by the American Baptist Publication So- 
ciety for the Baptist Forward Movement for Mis- 
sionary Education; Stewardship Department, p. 51. 
Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer, Ph.D., Jay OCooke—Finan- 
cier of the Civil War; Philadelphia: George W. 
Jacobs & Co. (1907); Vol. II, Chapter XIX. 

W. W. Everts, D.D., William Colgate—The Chris- 
tian Layman; Philadelphia: American Baptist 
Publication Society (1881), p. 248. 

Philip E. Howard, Their Call to Service—A Study ~ 
in the Partnership of Business and Religion; 
Philadelphia: The Westminster Press (1915); p. 68. 
Memorial of Samuel Pollock Harbison; born Sep- 
tember 26th, 1840; died May 10th, 1905; Privately 
Printed; p. 10. 

W. M. Weekly, D.D., Getting and Giving—The 
Stewardship of Wealth; Dayton, Ohio: U. B. Pub- 
lishing House (1903); p. 46. 

Henry Lansdell, D.D., The Sacred Tenth: or 
Studies in Tithe-Giving, Ancient and Modern; 
London: Published under the Direction of the 
Tract Committee, Society for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge (1906); two volumes. 

Mr. Kane has now incorporated his work in refer- 
ence to tithing; and literature is now sent out un- 
der the name of The Layman Company, from 143 
North Wabash Avenue, Chicago. 

American Magazine; August, 1916. 

John Wesley Duncan, Our Christian Stewardship; 
Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham; p. 104. 

Rev. J. S. Kendall, D.D., The Tithe Principle and 
Its Practice, as set forth in the Old and New Testa- 
ments and practiced by scores of churches and 


48 


26. 


27. 


38. 


39. 


40. 


AMERICAN TITHERS 


thousands of individuals, Dayton, Ohio: The Otter- 
bein Press (1913); p. 34. 

Christopher R. Robert: How He Came to Tithe 
and What Came Of It; The Christian Steward: 
Volume I, No. 2, p. 10, October, 1905. 

John Macdonald, Business Success: what it is and 
how to secure it; Toronto: Publishers Limited 
(1916), p. 25. 

In Memory of John S. Huyler; June 28th, 1846; 
October ist, 1910; Privately Printed; p. 44. 

Ibid., p. 20. 

Quebec Diocesan Gazette; Vol. V, No. 11, issue of 
November, 1898; p. 210: Contains a Memorial of 
Mr. Hamilton. 

Rev. Charles William Harshman, S.T.B., Christian 
Giving; Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham; p. 105. 
The Youth’s Companion; Vol. LXXIV; p. 53; issue 
of February 1, 1900. 

Memorial to Daniel Sharp Ford; Boston Baptist 
Social Union; Privately Printed; p. 5. 

J. Campbell White, The Stewardship of Life; New 
York: The Laymen’s Missionary Movement, p. 29. 
James Roscoe Day, LL.D., D.C.L., The Raid on 
Prosperity; New York: D. Appleton and Company 
(1907); p. 258. 

World’s Work, Volume XV, p. 9956. 

John T. Faris, Men Who Made Good; New York: 
Fleming H. Revell Company; p. 180. 

D. Stuart Dodge, Memorials of William E. Dodge; 
New York: Anson D. F. Randolph and Company; 
p. 336. 

Cosmopolitan; Volume XXXIII, p. 163 (June, 
1902). 

John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Address on Behalf of the 
Founder of the University of Chicago; The Uni- 
versity Record; University of Chicago Press; Vol. 
XI, No. 3, p. 129. 


